LINGUIST List 11.397

Fri Feb 25 2000

Qs: "May not"/British English, Italian Data Needed

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Dear linguists,
I would be very grateful if you would answer the following question.
In its epistemic sense, "may not" means "It is possible that
...not...". However, I have heard that in British English it can be
used in the sense of " It is not certain that ...", as in:
(1) A: Someone is knocking on the door.
B: It must be John.
A: It may not be John. It could be Bill.
Is this true?
With thanks in advance and best wishes,
Kenji Kashino
Professor of English Linguistics
Osaka Shoin Women's College
(YIB00161nifty.ne.jp)